Discretion is the better part of valour - the HEUFT line-up

A familiar problem in the bottling hall is congestion in the laning section. This occurs when bottles become wedged between the guide rails upon entering the individual lanes thereby reducing the amount of bottles supplied. The following machine decelerates the output until it eventually stops completely in order to compensate for this. This presents an even greater problem where the laning section is particularly short. These are often preferred to laning sections over longer distances because they have several advantages - at least at first glance.

Shorter distances save space along the line and less conversion work is required for brand changes. In addition a greater build-up of pressure is created between the bottles over a greater distance which can result in severe scuffing and to some extent even damage to the labels. However if several bottles become wedged at the infeed to the laning section the operators do not have much time to rectify this because the puffer of the shorter distance is very short. The consequence of this is that a person is often continuously employed at such positions to free wedged bottles and to keep the bottles flowing.

A well-known German brewery also experienced such a problem. Experiments were carried out with various systems but none achieved the desired result. The HEUFT company was able to offer a solution to remove the problem.

With the HEUFT line-up the lanes make room for the bottles!

The individual guide rails of the lanes are suspended in such a way that they can move regulated by intelligent electronic equipment. Sensors check whether the bottles have become wedged or gaps have formed in the individual lanes. In ideal circumstances the machine only carries out a small movement parallel to the conveyors. There is an additional lateral movement in the case of congestion or gaps. This movement is aligned in such a way that room is made for wedged bottles and the congestion is quickly resolved. When gaps occur the subsequent bottles are passed on in such a way that they fill up the space quickly. The advantage of this solution is that the bottles are quickly transported to the lanes and their transport can continue from there almost without any pressure being applied to them.

Adjustments for other brands can be carried out just as easily: by exchanging two change parts and adjusting the new lane width (in only one movement!) the HEUFT line-up is ready for its next task in no time at all.